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Calgary police, RCMP descend on Airdrie acreage in ongoing search for missing family

Calgary police and RCMP search through long grass and comb outbuildings at a rural property near Airdri,e northeast of Calgary, Alta on Saturday July 5, 2014.
Police later confirmed the search was part of their ongoing investigation into the disappearance of five-year-old Nathan O'Brien and his grandparents, Alvin and Kathryn Liknes from the Liknes' home in the southwest Calgary community of Parkhill a week ago.
Jim Wells/Calgary Sun/QMI Agency

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Calgary police have confirmed a massive operation at a rural property in Airdrie is linked to the search for a missing boy and his grandparents.

Police were first spotted at the acreage on the northeast end of Airdrie Friday evening and their presence, which also included RCMP resources, continued to grow Saturday.

They could be seen Saturday doing grid searches through tall grass while several police vehicles blocked the driveway off.

Investigators also searched the property by air.

Late Saturday afternoon, police confirmed the search is related to their investigation into the disappearance of five-year-old Nathan O’Brien and his grandparents, Alvin and Kathryn Liknes, reported missing from a Parkhill home on the morning of June 30.

Saturday evening, Insp. Joel Matthews said investigators were turned onto the Airdrie acreage after releasing CCTV photos of a green Ford F-150 truck seen in the Parkhill area.

The photo led to a tip and later finding a vehicle matching that description.

Police took a man from the property into custody.

Matthews said it is not yet confirmed the vehicle is the one they’re looking for, and at this point the man is only in custody to be questioned.

He was not combative with police, Matthews said.

Matthews called the scouring of the property the latest investigative step.

“It may not lead where we want it to lead,” he said.

He said investigators there were looking for “anything that would help us solve this file and find this family.”

On the hope of finding the missing trio alive, he said investigators were “still searching, still investigating.”

Nathan had stayed with his grandparents overnight Sunday following a weekend estate sale they held and was to be picked up Monday by his mother.\

However, when she arrived, no one was home.

Police said they found evidence suggesting a violent incident took place there.

They also spoke with some of the people who attended the estate sale, but still hope to talk to more.

Prior to police announcing the connection of the search in Airdrie to the missing persons case, neighbours near the acreage were a bit on edge, not having ever seen such a large scale investigation so close to home before.

“It definitely freaks me out,” said Corissa Boychuk, who spotted police at the property both Friday night and Saturday morning.

“This is a very quiet neighbourhood, that’s why I love it, so it’s kind of unnerving,” she said.

“This is unbelievable.”

Leo Velasco, who lives a few properties down the road from the one being searched, said he thought it was strange to see so many police and even a helicopter eyeing the area.

“It’s really weird, we never have this kind of police presence around here, it’s really quiet here, really nice,” he said.

On Saturday morning, police and dozens of Search and Rescue personnel scoured a 400-metre radius around the Liknes home in Parkhill looking for any evidence or information that might have been missed earlier in the investigation.

“It’s a secondary search, it takes place approximately five-to-seven days after the initial call,” Sgt. Daniela Seravalli said.

“It’s basically to see if we’ve missed anything, we can see if there’s anything we haven’t picked up.”

Anyone with information related to the case is asked to contact police at 403-266-1234 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.